


Supely Subpar

by imischiefmanagedi (IIthatfangirlII)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Eventual Romance, Eventual violence, High School, LGBT, LGBTQ Character, Multi, Original Character(s), Superheroes, Swearing, Tags Are Hard, Will Add More Later, character death but it isn't major
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 16:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15889347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IIthatfangirlII/pseuds/imischiefmanagedi
Summary: High school is pretty shitty for everyone involved. It gets even shitter for Isaac Martin after a car crash that prompted weird things to start happening. Soon enough Isaac is shipped away to a boarding school in New Hampshire where he finds others like him. But why has every record of his existence gone missing?





	Supely Subpar

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does contain swearing, underage drinking, an anxiety attack, and death.

**_“Hi. I’m Isaac Martin. You may know me and a few others as ‘terrorists’ the United States is hunting for the infiltration of a research facility that works with the government. For the record, no one in those news clips, including myself, are terrorists and I wouldn’t hurt anyone. That being said, I should at least be in the top 3, but that’s another matter entirely. I’ll explain.”_ **

 

The alternate universe theory suggests there are an infinite amount of things that could happen after one decision. So why in this universe am I driving to Sara Woodstock’s party on a Sunday night when I could be binge-watching Twin Peaks? Even as I ask myself the question I know the answer is the fact that I’m an idiot and Tyler Fucking Hills roped me into another one of his schemes. Again. The blond was wrapped in his favorite bomber jacket and wore his worn-out red hot chili peppers. He smiled as he flipped through stations on Archie’s radio. The car, Archie, was a red outback that had no right to look as good as it did and wouldn’t if it weren’t for my dad’s obsession with it. Luckily for Tyler and I, though I suspected he had planned this with Sara somehow, Tyler’s parents and mine were at the fireman’s festival and wouldn’t be back for a few hours. 

“How many sport radio stations does your dad listen to?” Tyler asked as he flipped through the saved stations before finally settling on some classic rock station.

“No clue, but must be around 100,” I said, my fists clenching and unclenching around the steering wheel on the wheel as Pink Floyd erupted from the speaker system. “He listens to them religiously though.”

Tyler paused for a moment and I felt his eyes focus on me. “You’re nervous that he’ll find out aren’t you?”

“I’m not worried about that. Ok maybe a little, but its only cause Archie is his baby and loves this car more than anything” I said, trying to keep my hands steady. “He would not like us sneaking out to go to a party in it.”

“He won’t even know Arch left his parking space.” Tyler said rolling his eyes, “Nothing will happen to Archie it's just a small gathering of people from our grade. And don’t think of it as sneaking out, think of it as just a nightly drive with a short pit stop.”  
“Oh yes, that definitely makes it better.”

“And you wonder why I don’t bring you on my schemes more often.” He looked at me with mock disappointment. 

I dipped onto the next street and spotted Sara’s a few houses down. It lit up the dark neighborhood 15 cars lined the side of the road and the driveway. “A small gathering, huh?” I can feel my heart rate tick up a few notches just looking at the cars as I pull Archie into an open spot. 

“Don’t worry, its just a few of Sara’s friends.” Tyler said getting out and looking in on me. “No big deal, you’ve met them and I’ll be here. And if you really want we can go back.”

“Fine, fine.” I relent, getting out. “But we’re going back at 11.”  
“You are the best!” He punched my shoulder, a smile sweeping across his face and making constellations out his freckles.

“It’s gonna be great, and I heard Emma is supposed to be there, you can finally ask her out.” His voice getting louder as it did when he was excited, betraying his usual calm demenor.  
“Oh yeah,” I said rubbing the spot where he punched me as we walked in.

A few people were laying on the grass outside the house, but their sentences were too languid and slurred to really engage us. The house wasn’t packed like you see in the movies, but the number of people was still enough for my finger to start tapping on my phone which I apparently took out of my pocket on instinct. There was definitely over 50 people packed in the house if the solo cups were and indication. Red solo cups sat on nearly every surface and a few just lay lonely on the floor waiting to be crushed by the dancers.

Some people were dancing to one of the thousand ‘Its the last day to live so lets party’ pop songs. Out of the crowd emerged Sara, in a loose red shirt and blue jeans, who bounded towards us, dark hair flying behind her, giving me a swift hug before attaching herself to Tyler and kissing him. I looked away to give them a bit of privacy, training my eyes on a rolling cup. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t shown this type of affection before. They’ve been doing it almost a year ever since Sara asked him out. That didn’t stop my stomach from curling in on me every time it happened. 

“I was wondering when you two would show up.” I looked back as she spoke, Tyler’s arm wrapped around her waist. “He finally got you out of your lair.” She said looking at me with a wide smile.

“Ha, yeah,” I said scratching the back of my neck. “He wasn’t gonna let me skip this one.”  
“Well I’m glad you both made it,” She said, her smile dipping into its usual warmth and sending an almost calming presence over me. Tyler, Sara, and I had been with each other since diapers because Tyler and Sara’s dads and my mom had started a law firm then lumped us together.

“So who's here?” I asked, wanting to know what I was getting into while mentally kicking myself for not having anything cool or funny to say.

“Oh everyone is.” She said happily, “Including Emma, c’mon I’ll take you to her.” She grabbed my hand and practically dragged me through the house to the kitchen where it was at least the grocery store pop songs weren’t deafening. A small group was there playing cards and drinking from the red cups. Emma, an Asian girl who could kick ass in Halo was sitting at the round table with one card left. 

Sara grinned wider as she brought me to the table, and plopped down, leaving an empty seat beside her and Emma. Begrudgingly I sat down next to them and said ‘Hello’, mostly so Sara wouldn’t tell me to do so. I’m not sure why Sara decided to make Emma and myself a couple, but once she finds a project she becomes determined to see it to completion. Maybe it was just that Emma and I could both be considered nerdy.

Emma quickly won the game to the cheers of audible groans and most of the people stayed to restart the game of BS. Sara and Tyler stayed for a round, Sara always calling out Tyler's bluffs. In retaliation, Tyler decided to call out Sara at every turn which ended with him having half the deck. Emma and I ended up in an argument over whether the third Alien movie ruined the series. This is apparently what Sara and Tyler were waiting for as they slipped away in the middle of the argument, leaving me stuck in the conversation at the table. 

More people trickled out of the game and into the mess of people until it was just Emma, Caleb, and I at the table, but Caleb’s sentences slurred together into random famous quotes and nonsensical statements.

“So what got you here? I thought you were on your Twin Peaks binge.” Emma said while she organized her cards.

“Tyler needed a ride,” I said shrugging as I flipped through my cards and put one down.

“And you couldn’t say no, right?” Emma said before calling Caleb’s bluff, and sliding the stack of cards over to his plethora which started using to build a house of cards with. 

I sigh and nod, she’s known me for ages now and I’ve known about her. “How’d Sara get you here? Wasn’t there some gaming contest tonight?”

“Yep, but its Sara.” She said smiling slightly.

“And it's Tyler,” I said, putting my cards down and smiling, feeling red run across my cheeks.

“We’re doomed aren’t we?”

“Afraid so,” I say stretching and checking my watch to see 11 had come and gone 15 minutes ago. “Shit, I gotta go, see you at school?”

“Yeah sure, I’m gonna make sure Caleb doesn’t drive home. Night Isaac.” 

“Good call. ‘Night Emma.” I said standing and beginning my hunt for my best friend. I found him and Sara lounging on the couch together, Sara sitting on his lap as they flirted and kissed, not noticing anyone else in the room.

“Hey, dude we gotta go.” I said tapping his shoulder.

“It’s fine, Isaac.” He slurred, a red solo cup lounging beside him.

“No it’s not, we gotta go.” I said pulling on his arm, trying to disentangle him from Sara.

“Stop it,” He said, pushing me a bit too hard and sending me tumbling to the ground. He didn’t even seem to notice.

“How much have you had to drink tonight?” I ask, he looks at me, blinks a few times, and goes back to eye-fucking Sara.

“Well you’re cut off,” I say taking his drink. 

He groaned and looked at me exasperated, “Just leave man, maybe then the party will be fun again. I’ll catch a ride back with someone else so you can go sit in the dark and watch your dumb mystery show.”

If that had come from anyone else it wouldn’t have struck me so hard. But it came from him and it was all I could do to keep my voice from shaking. It felt like something had been ripped away leaving a space in me hollow, even though nothing had been there, to begin with. Somehow, that made it worse. My hands clenched and unclenched and I’m pretty sure I was shaking a bit. I bit my tongue to hold back everything I was thinking, knowing it wouldn’t do any good. It never did with him.

“Fine, just get a ride with someone sober, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He waved his hand turning back to Sara who had been too busy drinking out of her own cup to notice me. 

Blinking hard I shoved my way through the crowd, which had grown considerably. The night was cold for late September, but the warmth I had felt before had drained with Tyler. I shook my head, knowing it wouldn’t do any good to wallow in this and just wanting to get back to my room.  _ Everything will be back to normal tomorrow. _ I said to myself, knowing Tyler got this way when he drunk and that he never stayed that way. 

Archie was cold, Tyler had apparently rolled his window down before the party. I cursed and rolled it up before starting Archie up and pulling away. I switched on the radio, wanting to drown out my thoughts as I drove home in the car that felt almost empty. I pulled up to the parking lot for my apartment building to see that the grey station wagon known as Herm was in Tyler’s Mom’s spot. Fuck. My parents were home. 

I parked Archie before making my way upstairs, not even caring about the emotional pounding I was gonna get. My mom was aggressively sipping coffee at the kitchen counter, her brown hair tied up in a messy bun, but still in the blue suit she had left in, her heels discarded by the entrance. My dad was pacing around the small space that didn’t have a chair or a table. His tie was undone but it hung around his neck as if he untied it then forgot about it entirely. When they saw me their faces morphed into glares, their brows furrowing and anger flashing in their eyes. My mom straightened up and in that instance, I felt like I was in a courtroom. Unfortunately for me, public defenders were not offered to people who just had an angry lawyer mom. 

“Where, the hell, were you?” My dad stormed over, his face beat red, yelling so loudly spit started flying. “You sneak out of the house, you don’t pick up your phone! Do you think making us worry is fun?” 

Shit. My phone must have lost power at the party.

“I was just-” I start, wanting the chance to explain myself at least but Dad wasn’t going to let me finish.

“You were just what? Huh?” He put me right in the splash zone, his hand s digging into my arms.

“George…” A hand appeared on his shoulder before he swiveled around to face my mom, releasing me.

“He lives under our roof he has to listen to our rules!” My mom’s face and voice were emotionless as always, she only let a cocked eyebrow. A dare to continue shouting at her which instantly shut my dad up.

“I agree, but keep it down or you’ll wake the neighbors,” She said, her voice becoming a bit stern which was absolutely terrifying.

“I was just at Sara’s house and,” I start again, thinking I could finally explain my side of the story.

“Were you drinking? You better not have been driving drunk with Archie,” Of course he asked about Archie.

“What- no, of course not” I sputter, backing up slightly. “I don’t drink.”

“If I see one scratch on him-”

“Isaac, why didn’t you tell us?” My mom’s voice was back in courtroom mode, lifeless. Her eyes were piercing and even though I was telling the truth they always made me feel panicked

“I was just planning on giving Tyler a lift. He roped me into staying, I didn’t think-”

“That's right you didn’t think! How could you be this stupid?”

“George that's enough!” My dad looked as if he was about to say something then thought better of it. “Isaac, where is Tyler now?” 

 

“He’s still at Sara’s,” I answered right away, not wanting the same reaction Dad had received. A wave of guilt hit me in the chest as I said it, but at least  Tyler’s parents would go pick him up.

“George, go over to the Thompson’s apartment. And you, go to your room. Hand over your phone and laptop. Once you’re responsible enough you can have these privileges back.” She held out her hand and reluctantly I placed my phone in it. Without another word she spun and marched to my room and grabbed my laptop, leaving no room for further yelling. My dad’s face was still red and with a final glare he walked out of the apartment and slammed the door.

My room was dark, but I didn’t bother with turning on a light. My room wasn’t anything special, just a desk, a lamp, and an old twin bed. I just wanted this day to be over. My mind wouldn’t stop replaying what had happened at the end of the party. When it happened it was like I was struck dead at Tyler’s words even though I knew he’d apologize tomorrow like he always did and I’d forgive him like I always did. I kicked myself, wondering why I was stuck in this infinite loop where Tyler was a dick, then he would apologize, and then things would be good until he decided to be a dick again. 

 

My parents didn’t say anything to me the next morning, mostly because my dad was busy watching the recorded highlight reel and my mom was bustling around the house getting ready for work. I did my best to slip out of the house, feeling shitty about not caring about what they said last night and not wanting to cause any more trouble. I grabbed my bike from the hallway and waited outside for Tyler to meet me as he normally did. The time ticked by and once I couldn’t wait for him anymore I left, wanting to at least not disappoint my teachers by being late. 

With the exception of Tyler not being here, things went on as normally as it could. The day seemed lifeless without Tyler, but I got on. I ate lunch with Emma and her friends, worked alone on Tyler’s and my chemistry project, and read during my free period. Sara walked up to me before homeroom last period at my locker, tapping nervously on her binder. “I’m sorry about last night, Tyler was a jerk and I didn’t-”

“Yeah he was a jerk, but it’s fine,” I said, interrupting her. “You two were drunk and didn’t know what you were saying?” 

Sara sighed with relief, “So, we cool?”

“Yeah, we’re cool.” 

Sara’s worried face melted into a smile. “Cool,” She shuffled on her feet, “Have you seen or heard from Tyler?”

“No, my parents took away my phone and laptop.”

“Same here, they yelled pretty hard when they found out about the party, I think they came back a few minutes after you left.”

“Oh, yeah? I got some of the same, my parents were home before I got there.” I said as I pulled out my stuff. “I’m sure Tyler probably just skipped because he was wasted, you know how easy his parents are.”  
“True, he got lucky with his parents,” Sara said as she considered my idea, walking beside me to homeroom. We took our seats, my eyes lingering on Tyler’s empty chair as they did this morning.

The loudspeaker crackled to life but instead of Mr. Carlin’s monotone voice attempting to make the next week’s lunch sound interesting, Mrs. Monrow’s gravelly voice was projected. 

“Hello, students. I regret to inform you that late yesterday evening Tyler Hills and Austin Saunders were in a car crash, but it is with greater regret that I must inform you Tyler later passed from injuries resulting in the crash. Austin did receive some-” 

Her voice faded into the background and everything seemed to slow to a crawl, the world became dizzier as my heartbeat grew louder and faster. I squeezed my eyes tight to keep the tears from escaping, trying to get a handle on this. My face grew hot and I knew it must be red, but I couldn’t bring myself to care about what everyone else must have thought. Numbness spread throughout me and I felt like I was dying. 

_ Not again, not again, not again.  _ I thought to myself, barely able to hear them over my thundering heart. I tried to do my deep breathing.  _ It can’t be true, Tyler’s too young, too smart. It can’t be true he’d miss his football against our rivals. He’s done stuff like this before, never on this level, but he’s talked about faking death before. _ I took another breath and opened my eyes and smiled, knowing this must be just another of Tyler’s pranks.  _ He is friendly with the principal, he got her in on this somehow.  _ When I opened my eyes I saw the class and teacher were staring at Sara, the empty seat, and me. Sara’s head was stuffed into her arms and sobs were coming from her. Feeling a bit awkward now, my smile disappeared and I rubbed her back. My homeroom teacher Mr. Clark, a tall Africa-American man with glasses and a beard, cleared his throat loudly.

“I understand that this is difficult for many of you, and if you need to stay you may do so but you are dismissed.” His voice was soft like it normally was, but it broke in the middle. Tyler is one of his favorite students after all. My classmates stood up awkwardly and said how sorry they were to both me and Sara before hurrying out, some with teary red eyes themselves after Mr. Clark. Sara leaned on me, crying on my shoulder.  

“It’s ok, it’s one of his pranks,” I whispered, hugging her as if she would splinter off into pieces if I wasn’t there and wanting her to be ok, but she shook her head. 

“It’s not one of his idiotic pranks, he would have told us!” She said, her voice getting louder. Emma walked in the room along with a handful of Sara’s other friends. They rushed to Sara and hugged her, listening to Sara’s sobs. 

“I’m going to go get Tyler, its just one of his pranks and he’s at the house alright?” I said. Sara continued sobbing and I would have stayed if I hadn’t known the truth. I slipped out of the classroom, my walk becoming a jog, and my jog became a sprint. People saw me, but I guess they want to give me some space since no one came up to me. I hopped onto my bike and zoomed down the streets, needing to see Tyler and confirm my belief that he was alive. Once I was at the apartment buildings it took all my strength not to just drop my bike and race to his apartment. I ended up lugging my bike up to the fifth floor to their door and leaning it against the wall.

It was only after I knocked on the door of apartment 5C that I allowed myself to rest and breathe a bit. Tyler’s mom, Mary Hills answered the door, her eyes lined with red and a tissue clutched in her grip. When she saw me she gave a sob and pulled me into a hug. I’m not exactly sure what happened after that. It was like someone had flipped a switch. She sat me down and talked to me, trying to gain her normal therapist composure, but failing. She tried to explain to me that Tyler is dead, but she's wrong he can’t be.

She sent me out with a container of cookies-she always baked when she was overwhelmed-and made me promise to talk with her later. It was silent then. Even when I walked into my usually bustling apartment it was like there was a sort of forcefield of nothingness incapsulating me. A void devoid of anything. It surrounded me like fog and everything felt like static.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you liked it! Comment down below if you see any mistakes!


End file.
